Justified
by thematsaidwelcome
Summary: Detective Rick Grimes has the chance to solve a cold case that has plagued locals for years, but is it worth the cost.
1. Chapter 1

"Whatta we got Johnson?" Detective Whitten asked moving his sunglasses from around his eyes and placing them in his shirt pocket. He inhaled the scent of mud and wet grass as he ambled towards his partner who was standing next to one of the forensics investigators busy taking photos of the scene. John Whitten had been with the Ashby police department for twenty years, moving to detective seven years ago where he was partnered with Kevin Johnson a 17 year vet and lifetime resident of Ashby. Whitten had been woken up an hour earlier to get to the scene; a running trail that cuts through the city park. They found a crowd of officers, forensics and onlookers who were just outside the yellow tape at the half mile marker of the trail that ran along the edge of a drop off made up of rocks with a man made creek just below it.

"One mud covered body, just over the fencing there." He pointed to the wooden pillars that stuck out from the ground and were about three feet tall connected together by wire at the top and bottom to keep people from going onto the rocks and falling into the creek.

"Who called it in?" Whitten asked looking around at all the faces that were surrounding the scene.

"Jogger, said she was running her usual route and saw something shiny down on the rocks. She went to get a closer look and found the dead guy. The shiny thing was his watch."

"With all the rain last night, it's a good thing he wasn't dumped in the creek, the current might have washed him away and we might not have found him at all."

"Maybe they wanted us to find him. Why else would they leave him so close to the trail?"

"Do we have a time of death from the M.E. yet?" Whitten looked at the time on his watch, 8:45am.

"Let's ask her." They looked to the left as Dr. Franklin, the pathologist pushed the gurney with the black vinyl bag filled with the object of their questioning towards them.

"Morning Cheryl." Johnson greeted.

"Too early if you ask me, but the dead don't wait for me to get up on my own. How you guys doing?"

"Same as you I suppose, rather be in the bed than out here. You got a time of death?"

"According to body temp... about 12 hours ago. I don't know an approximate cause of death yet because of all the caked on mud. I've got to get him washed off and on my table to find out just what killed him."

"Alright. I guess we'll be seeing you later then."

"So what do we know about the crime scene?" Whitten asked as they both watched Cheryl walk away.

"Whoever did this was either incredibly smart or got incredibly lucky with the rain last night. All that mud ran off down the rocks covering the body and erased any tracks that might have been left. They powdered what they could, but there's no fingerprints on anything.

"If he was covered in mud how did the jogger see him?"

"I'm sure an arm sticking out from the rocks would get my attention. She said it just seemed out of place and she took a second look. The arm lead to a whole body."

"No cameras on the trail?"

"Not a one. And we'd be hard pressed to find anyone who saw anything last night with the rain that came through."

"So we're looking for an incredibly smart criminal then?"

"You thinking it's just one?"

"By the size of that man, it seems like it would take two to carry him over here, but let's see where the evidence leads us."

"I guess we'll find out more when we talk to Cheryl later, but we can't rule out sheer determination making one man able to carry a body that size by himself." He looked down at his notepad and the scribblings only he can read written across the paper.

"You know twenty years ago, I thought becoming a detective in this little ass town would be a good thing. Quiet... not too much to do. I was so wrong."

"Yes you were…. so was I. Now let's start with a getaway route. How many ways are there to get into this place?"

"You just came in through it. Most people use the parking lot, the only entrance is through the west, the east side is where the exit is. The jogger lives in those house on the other side of the wrought iron fencing, there's an opening in the fence for the neighborhood people to get in the park, but it's on a cul de sac, so it wouldn't have been used to carry a body all the way over here."

"Yeah, no one's carrying a body through the neighborhood to dump it here. That's almost a quarter of a mile."

"Nope, the parking lot would be the smartest way in. Park in the closest spot and carry him over here. That's what I would do."

"Let's go for a drive then. See if we can spot any cameras that might have caught our suspect." Whitten took the driver's seat with Johnson navigating as they went back out the way he came in and down the only road that leads you to the park. They found four businesses that had mounted cameras on the outside of their storefronts, as well as three red lights with cameras that the suspect would have had to drive through to get to the park. It took two hours to get all the footage and get back to the station.

"I can't believe this shit, they had better visuals for the moon landing. This is from the shoe repair place?"

"Yeah. Most likely he uses them as deterrents rather than actually needing to catch someone breaking into his store. Who robs a shoe repair store anyways?"

"Well, the red light cameras were a bust, only three cars drove through all night and all those checked out."

"Let's go see Cheryl, maybe she's had better luck."

* * *

"What you got for us Cheryl?"

"Well after I cleaned all the blood off of him, I counted 12 stab wounds all over his body. Not a single toenail is still attached and his penis is hanging by a thread."

"Wow. I wonder if he got interrupted or if that was the plan? Is he missing an eye?"

"Yes he is. I can honestly say that I've never seen such brutality against one person."

"Damn. This definitely wasn't random. Crime of passion?" Cheryl shrugged her shoulders not wanting to give her opinion and leave that to the detectives.

"You think you know what kind of weapon was used?"

"Some sort of knife for these, they measured four inches deep. Maybe an ice pick for the other ones, they're shallower at 3 inches. I'll know more after casting them. I can tell you that there are 6 points of entry for what could be the ice picks and 6 for the knife wounds."

"Cause of death?"

"I'm guessing he bled out. None of these wounds were deep enough to sever anything. This one right here…" She pointed to a three inch cut in his chest. "Just to the right of his heart. But looks like they got the femoral artery right here. She touched a hole on his left leg pointing to where the fatal wound was. I was just about to open him up, and have a look inside." Turning away from the body Whitten looked at Johnson with wide eyes.

"Did we find enough blood for him to have bled out at the scene?" Johnson asked

"With all the rain and mud, there could have been, but it most likely washed away." Whitten answered.

"Incredibly smart... You got an i.d?" Johnson asked Cheryl.

"I did a fingerprint scan not too long ago, the computer's still running them."

"You see anything else that might help us?"

"He's got these marks on his wrists, he was probably tied up or something. The bruises look like a chain. See the oval marks all around his wrists and this smaller marking in the middle of it, that could be where the metal of the chain was fused together to create the link?" The computer beeped and they all looked up towards the screen. Cheryl walked over to see the results. "Looks like a Brian Heriot." Whitten, jotted the name down and then he and Johnson, left the exam area, not wanting to see the inside of a dead man before lunch.

"The land developer, Brian Heriot?" Johnson asked Whitten when they returned to their office.

"You've heard of him?"

"Yeah. He's a big time player in the real estate market. I was surprised he moved to our little town a few years back." Johnson tapped on the keyboard some more, bringing up more information for Brian Heriot. "He's only lived in Ashby for three years. Looks like he lived out of state before that."

"Married?" Whitten asked, prepared to write down the answer.

"Yeah."

"Let's take a ride then. Lunch is on you after we deliver the news."

Arriving at the address they notice two cars in the driveway of the modern Victorian home, a new minivan and a older Dodge Ram 4x4 that seemed too dusty and dirty to be parked next to the sleek minivan. A pristine lawn, edged to perfection, as well as meticulously pruned bushes that lined the west side of the property. There was a large window that covered most of the front of the house, curtains pulled, but the stained glass inset in the front door showed movement on the inside. Detective Whitten rang the doorbell and they waited as the sound of footsteps got closer. The lock unlatched and the door opened to a tall blonde standing on the other of the door.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello ma'am. I'm Detective Whitten and this is my partner Detective Johnson." They flashed their badges and waited as she thoroughly inspected each one with a careful eye. Looking back up to them when she was finished.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"We're here about Mr. Heriot."

"Brian? He's not here. He's in Sedona on a business trip. He's not expected back until the day after tomorrow."

"Are you Mrs. Heriot?" Johnson asked her.

"Yes, Lilly Heriot."

"Ma'am, may we come in?" Whitten asked her.

"What's this about? Is he in some sort of trouble?" She widened the door to allow them to walk inside her home. "Do I need to call him?"

"No that won't be necessary. When's the last time you spoke to him ma'am?"

"Yesterday evening before he left." She darted her eyes back and forth between the two men and took a deep breath. "I called him while I was on break at work and he was finishing his packing before he headed to the airport." She lead them to the sitting area of the front room and motioned for them to sit down. "Can I get y'all something to drink?" She stepped towards her kitchen but stopped when Whitten spoke.

"No. We're fine… Mrs. Heriot...we hate to have to tell you this, but your husband was found dead this morning." She stared at Detective Whitten's mouth waiting for him to say that he was just joking and she was being set up or something, but he didn't say anything more. He watched her blink her eyes over and over again processing what he'd just told her and looking as though she was expecting him to say something else. "Mrs. Hariot? Are you okay? Did you hear me?" She smiled at him and looked into his eyes. She walked over to the couch and slowly lowered herself down on it.

"Who put you up to this? Brain's not dead. I just talked to him yesterday... he can't be dead."

"We're really sorry to have to tell you this way, but the medical examiner confirmed it with his fingerprints." Trying to get down to business, Johnson pulled out a small spiral notebook from the inside pocket of his blazer. "Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your husband. Did he have any enemies?"

"No, not that I know of, he was a land developer for God's sake. Why would anyone want to hurt him? Wait a minute...was he murdered?"

"Yes ma'am, he was." Johnson confirmed.

"Can you tell us where you were last night?" Whitten asked her.

"Me? I was at work, like I said before, I work at the hospital and got off at seven last night, then I came home...Why are you here?" She took a deep breath and released it. "If he was murdered in Sedona, why is Ashby PD here? Shouldn't I be getting a call on the phone?"

"Mrs. Hariot, your husband was found in town, off the Ashby trails. Is that his car out in the driveway?"

"Yes. He always takes a taxi to the airport. Where is my husband now?"

"He's with the medical examiner." Johnson pulled out a card with Dr. Franklin's information on it and handed it to her. Call this number so that you can set up a time to identify the body. She took the card and crumpled it in her hand, still not allowing the truth to sink in.

"Mommy?" All eyes turned to the little girl that stood at the bottom of the steps. She waited for her mom to start talking, not realizing that she had interrupted a grown up conversation.

"Yes, baby?" Lilly got up and went to her daughter, smoothing her hair back and giving her as real of a smile as she could give.

"Can I have some ice cream after lunch?"

"Yes you can. Let's start making lunch now. Why don't you meet me in the kitchen?" She watched the little girl walk away and then turned to Johnson and Whitten. "I think you should leave now." She waited for them to stand before walking them to the front door and opening it for them.

"We are sorry for your loss. We'll be in touch if we have anymore questions." As they both stepped onto the front porch, the door slammed behind them, shutting them off from any further communication with the new widow.

* * *

"These photos don't give us shit, Johnson. We've been staring at them all week and I'm about crossed eyed looking at the the same shit day after day. There's nothing here that's going to lead us to anything. There wasn't a footprint, a hair, or a fingerprint left at the scene. No threads from clothes and not one eyewitness that saw anything out of the ordinary."

"Well he didn't just drop from the sky. Somebody murdered him and left him for us to find." Whitten stopped in front of the wall that was covered in notes and facts from the crime scene. Nothing was leading them any closer to a killer than they were the first day the yellow tape went up.

"According to the evidence that is turning up nothing, he did just drop from the sky." Johnson said, feeling defeated.

"So someone was able to carry a dead naked man through the park in the rain, dump his body and leave not one trace of evidence?"

"What kind of person are we dealing with here?"

"Whoever it is, they've seemed to have committed the perfect murder." Whitten stated before walking away from the wall. "Who the hell killed this man?"

For two months Johnson and Whitten put everything they had into solving Brian Heriot's murder. Going over crime scene photos hundreds of times and watching camera footage from along the streets from every angle that lead to the park the night of the crime. They interviewed everyone that Mr. Heriot associated with and discovered that there wasn't anyone that had a bad thing to say about him. He was a well respected guy with land developing projects in progress as well as deals that were still in the works. He had lived in Ashby for three years and married his wife Lilly not long after. The only child involved was Lilly's daughter Meghan. It was the second marriage for both of them. Brian's first wife died in a car accident many years before and Lilly's first husband left her and filed for divorce four years ago. After the initial shock of her husband's murder, Mrs. Heriot spoke again to the detectives, allowing them access to any and everything they wanted in their home. They discovered that Brian had an unusual fish tank obsession and was into military weapons and vehicles. As was evident by his large collection of books on those subjects. Although his collection was unusual, it didn't lead to anything useful that would help them solve his murder.

 **10 years later**

"This is it, sorry about the mess, but there's a lot to go through. Ever since they gave us Ashby's cases and now Woodland Hills too, we've got a shit ton of shit to do. Budget cuts are a bitch especially when you're dealing with crime." The lights flickered on and the brightness from the sun that seeped in the windows high on the wall, illuminated the dust that could be smelt within the room. "It's a basement, but it's large and you and your partner will have it all to yourselves."

"No problem, Ford, as least it'll keep me busy." He looked around the large room lined with steel shelves filled with cardboard boxes, numbers written on the outside of each one. "I'll be busy for decades by the look of all these case files."

"That you will be my friend. Your partner should be here soon; Sasha Williams. She's talking with the Sheriff right now, she's a bit of a genius, so solving these cold cases should be easy, right?" He winked and wiggled his eyebrows which made his red hair on the top of his head move. "I hear she's a bit of a firecracker though, but I don't see why y'all shouldn't get along to solve these cases. Hey, let me know if you need anything from me. It's nice to have you on board Grimes."


	2. Chapter 2

I can't tell you how nervous I was posting the first chapter of this story, since it's different from what I'm used to writing. I started this in April and with a little shove from a pushy tiger, I finally put it out. Thank you for reading and your support. I hope you enjoy the rest of this story, because believe it or not, I enjoyed writing it.

* * *

"Look man, just do me this one solid. I know she digs me. I mean...how could she not?"

"Come on Abe, an anniversary party? I don't even know these people." Rick looked up at Abe's face. The overly large man had decided that sitting on top of Rick's desk was the best way to get the detective to do him this one particular favor.

"They're good people Rick. I've known Glenn for a while and his wife Maggie is a pretty badass chick. They won't care about you being there. Think of it as a reward to yourself for solving so many cold cases. You've been her for six months, it's time for you to meet some people who don't work for the department. Come on. Just ask Sasha to be your plus one." Abe handed Rick the extra invitation he suckered Eugene out of. "It's not a date." He emphasised "And I'll take it from there."

"Why can't you just ask her to go with you."

"Not really good workplace practices my friend; besides, I never see her outside of the department. Will you just do this one thing for me? I'll owe you a few cases of beer."

"Fine Abe, I'll ask, but I'm not making any promises. What the hell am I supposed to do once you walk off with Sasha? I won't know anyone there."

"Don't you worry about that. There'll be plenty of ladies there to occupy your time." Abe tapped the desk with his pointer finger two times and then got up once Sasha came back into the room. "Hey Sasha." He said passing by her, smiling and then nodding his head at Rick so he'd know that sooner rather than later would be prefered.

"Abe." Sasha responded, not paying much attention to the gingered haired man, who seemed to always be around. She sat at her desk and waited for the office door to close before speaking to her partner. "Does he need more work to do or something? Everytime I look up, he's there. He's an officer, right?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Can he go patrol something?"

"I think he's looking to." Rick said slyly. "You busy Saturday?" He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"No. Nothing pressing. Just some Netflix with Sniper."

"I still can't get over the fact you named your dog Sniper."

"What's wrong with that?"

"He's a Yorkie."

"A deadly one." Rick laughed at the absurdity of a seven pound dog being deadly.

"If you say so... Look, I've got an invitation to the Rhee's anniversary party. You want to come with me?" Seeing Sasha's inquisitive look, he amended his request to put her at ease. "Not as my date, just my plus one. I don't know them and doubt if I know anyone at the party. You'd be doing me a favor."

"Oh okay. Sure. I happen to know the Rhee's. I heard about this party a while ago. I wasn't going to go since I didn't have a date, but...sure. I'll pick you up at 7."

"Great. Wait...what? You're picking me up?" Rick smiled because he'd never been picked up for a date or just a platonic plus one situation.

"Yeah. You picking me up, would be too much like a date, so wear something nice Grimes."

* * *

"There's a lot of people here Sasha. What do the Rhee's do?"

"Maggie's a veterinarian. Glenn is a hacker or something. He tests the firewalls of companies and makes sure people can't get into them."

"How long have you known them?" Asked Rick as they entered the grand entranceway, made up of glossed red mahogany that glistened under the twinkling of the overhead crystals from the large chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

"A few months after I moved here, I took Sniper to her clinic for a check up. She's really sweet. Glenn showed up and she introduced me. Sweet couple. You want to meet them?"

"Why not. Love to know whose party I'm crashing."

"You're not crashing anything with an invitation. You look very nice by the way." Sasha looked over his grey suit, a lot different than his usual basic black or light blue button down shirt and khaki pants he wore everyday to work. "Looks like there's a few women here who have noticed you. They're giving me the side eye for walking with you." Rick shook his head, at his partners attitude at the women. "Look at that blond over there and that brunette beside her." Sasha pointed at the two staring women, not caring about being polite. "Pick your poison and I'm sure you could take one home tonight."

"We'd have to walk since you drove me here. You already messed up my game Williams. Thanks." Rick said sarcastically. "They're not my type anyways."

"Well what's your type then? I'll help you find love tonight."

"Love? Does it have to be love?"

"Go big or go home, right." They walked to the middle of the room before stopping. "And since I'm driving and you can't go home until I'm ready, let's make it love."

"Well hello… fancy meeting you two here." Abe's attempt at being discrete failed Rick miserably.

"Well look who it is Sasha….Abe's here. What are the odds?" Rick grumbled out.

"Wow, Abe. You clean up really good." Sasha was impressed by the way he wore his dark blue suit. Against his fair skin, he looked nothing short of handsome. "I was just about to introduce Rick to Glenn and Maggie. Do you know them?"

"Oh yeah, me and Glenn go way back. He used to be my sparring partner."

"You used to fight Glenn?" Sasha questioned not able to see the differently sized men sparring.

"Oh yeah. He might be smaller than me, but he packs one hell of a punch. Come on, let me do the introductions." The three of them walked a short distance and were in front of the happy couple in no time.

"Abraham Ford." Glenn greeted. "I didn't know if you'd make it. With all the police work that you do around town and all." Sasha rolled her eyes at Glenn wondering just what half truths Abe had told him about his work at the department. "Good to see you man." Glenn extended his hand to Abe and they shook, then hugged like the old friends they were.

"Glenn, I'd like you to meet Sasha Williams." Abe placed his hand at the small of Sasha's back, giving her unexpected butterflies.

"Sasha, nice to see you... again. How's…. Sniper, right?"

"You remembered. He's doing good. Still a killer."

"Of course he his. I had to talk Maggie out of going out and getting one that same day after she met him. Those dogs are tripping hazards."

"Did I hear my name over here?" Maggie said coming to stand next to Glenn after talking to some other guests. "Hey Sasha. Haven't seen you in a while."

"I was just there a few weeks ago, but they said you were out."

"Oh yeah, I've added field work. Farm animals. Everything okay with you and Sniper?"

"Everything's great. Happy anniversary you two."

"Thank you, and thanks for coming. Who's your friend?" Maggie asked noticing Rick standing next to Sasha.

"This is Rick."

"Rick Grimes." He greeted, shaking both Maggie and Glenn's hands. "Nice to meet you. Quite a turnout you've got here."

"Rick's my partner in the Cold Case division."

"Oh wow, you're in law enforcement too?" Rick nodded his head and gave a small smile. "I hope you do more work than this guy?" Maggie pointed to Abe and laughed.

"Oh Mags, you know Abe works hard over there. I've seen his log in time at the computer." Glenn winked at Abe.

"They've got you working with the department now?" Abe asked disbelievingly.

"About a month now."

"Shit. I guess I can't be perusing anymore. Those Walking Dead stories are the best." Abe joked, but made a mental note to only read on his phone from now on.

"That's good to know Glenn." Sasha told him. "Your expertise might come in handy with some of our cold cases."

"Don't you already have a computer guy at the department?"

"Yeah, but Eugene is a required taste that you only want when you have no other options." Rick answered.

"There she is." Maggie looked at her watch. "An hour late, just like clockwork."

"I love your bracelet, Maggie. I've noticed it before, but never mentioned it." Sasha touched the stainless steel bangle that rested against Maggie's watch. "What do these numbers symbolise?" Before she could answer, Maggie's attention was drawn to the woman walking towards them.

"It took forever to get through the valet. You two should really downsize your friends list."

"Very funny." Both Maggie and Glenn kissed a cheek of the woman who just walked up.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my very best friend in the whole world." Maggie took her hand and squeezed it. "This is Michonne. Michonne this is…" Maggie paused, so everyone could say their own names.

"Sasha Williams." Michonne shook her hand and then moved to the next extended hand.

"Abe Ford. Nice to meet you." He winked since they had been friends for years.

"Rick Grimes." He held out his hand and held his breath in anticipation of getting to touch the hand of the beautiful woman who had just walked in. Her magenta floor length evening dress shimmered under the lights and flickering flames of the candles. Her skin, a rich umber glowed under his gaze, making her skin even more enticing with her invisible blush.

"Well, looks like we're being flagged down by some more guests." Glenn stated. Everyone noticed that neither Rick or Michonne moved, almost frozen in time as they stared into each others eyes. "We'll see y'all later." Glenn said to the only people in the group still listening. Abe escorted Sasha away and Glenn and Maggie walked off after, shaking their heads at the obvious love connection.

"It's nice to meet you, Rick." Michonne said to him. He was still holding onto her hand, Rick stepped closer to her breathing in her perfume.

"Would you like a drink?" He asked, chancing a quick glance at the champagne table, then back into her golden brown eyes.

"I'd love one." Not letting go of her hand, Rick walked with Michonne to the table, handing her a flute filled with champagne. She wrinkled her nose when she took a sip and the bubbles tickled her. "How long have you known Glenn and Maggie?" She asked once she swallowed the bubbly beverage.

"Just met them tonight. Abe introduced us."

"Ahh...Abe. Big man with a big heart. How do you know Abe?"

"We work together on the force. I've been there about six months."

"Law enforcement. Impressive."

"If you say so... And you? Are you a veterinarian too?"

"Oh god no. Nothing about what Maggie does sounds appealing to me. I've seen her covered in animal…. nastiness, and I'll pass. I love my small air conditioned store that smells like jasmine and vanilla."

"Store?"

"I have a jewelry store. I make custom jewelry. You should come by some time. I could make you a tie clip." Her fingernail ran the length of his navy silk tie, but was stopped by Rick's hands just before she got to the end of it.

"I'd like that." He held her hand in his, regretful that he stopped her, but certain he wouldn't have been able to control his body had she made it to her destination. His thumb ran across the metal of her bracelet that she wore. "You and Maggie wear matching jewelry?"

"She...indulges my creativity. I made these a some years ago and we promised to never take them off. So what brought you out to the party tonight Rick? Since you just met the couple of the night...how did you even get an invitation?"

"Abe gave it to me. He...uh...he's trying to work his magic with Sasha. I was the wingman of sorts." Rick shrugged and then looked for the couple in the crowd. Spotting them over by a window laughing and seeming to be having a genuinely good time.

"I hope it works out for them." She followed his stare and smiled at Abe and Sasha. "He's making her laugh, that's a good sign."

"Yes it is….so, do Glenn and Maggie live here? This place is huge."

"Oh no. They prefer much smaller houses. They're just using this place for the party. As you can see, they have a lot of friends."

"Popular people."

"Being the vet for as long as Maggie has, she's meet almost half the town. And when Glenn isn't holed up in a room staring at a computer screen, he's in the community teaching tech classes down at the rec center or the retirement home. They've helped a lot of people around here. They are loved by a lot of people. They deserve it."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you loved by a lot of people?"

"I never aspired to be. I like to keep to myself mostly. Keeps me out of trouble."

"Except Maggie. You're her best friend in the whole world."

"We've been through a lot. I like to see her happy." She smiled at him, flashing her bright white teeth against her lips shaded a dark red. "Are you hungry? I'm starving and it looks like they've started ushering people to their seats."

"Where are you sitting?" Rick asked her, hopeful they'd get to sit and talk all night.

"Not too far away from the happy couple."

"There wouldn't happen to be an empty seat next to you would there?"

"I'm sorry, my table's full." She flashed her smile at him again.

"Hey Rick. Uh.., sorry to interrupt Michonne." Abe said sounding a bit flustered coming up to them. "Look, man, they're being real sticklers about the seating arrangements. You have to sit where your invitation has you." Rick tried to listen, but was too focused on watching Michonne walk away. He didn't hear Abe mention that he needed his invitation or feel when he switched out the one in his inside jacket pocket, replacing it with the one in his hand. The view of Michonne walking away had Rick mesmerized. The sway of her hips made his heart skip a beat. He was kicking himself for stopping her finger on his tie. "Thanks buddy."

"What?"

"Just give your invitation to the guy at the door and he'll seat you where it says." Abe turned around and made his way quickly back to Sasha who was waiting by the double wooden doors that lead to the large dining room. Rick looked at the white cardstock in his hand and focused in on the table number printed so elegantly in black ink. He replayed the one sided conversation that Abe just had with him and shook his head. The only good thing he could think of was that Abe didn't bring a plus one, so the chair next to him would be empty, meaning one less person to talk to. He walked up to the door and handed the uniformed man his invitation, then was led to his white clothed table that sat eight; all the way in the corner, far from the guests of honor and way too far from Michonne, who he could see talking to the people at her table, still sipping on the champagne that he handed to her earlier.

"Hello there." He looked up instantly annoyed at the voice that made him look away from Michonne. It was the blond that Sasha had pointed to earlier. "Looks like I'm sitting next to you. She sat down , smiling the whole time. I'm Jessica."

"Rick."

"Oh you found it, good. Hi." The brunette, the blond was standing next to earlier said sitting next to him. "I'll just sit here until your date comes back. Where is she, we saw you with her earlier."

"Oh, I saw her sitting with that red haired fella. What's his name?" Jessica asked.

"Oh yeah, Abe. They seemed pretty chummy. I'm Lorelei, by the way."

"Rick." He smiled flatly promising to make Abe pay for this seating arrangement debacle.

"Isn't this party fun? This place is beautiful." Jessica said a little louder than necessary.

"I can't believe how successful they are at such a young age." Lorelei said, truly in awe of the couple.

"Determined people are usually the most successful." Rick said to them, hating having to sit in between them as they talked.

"You're on the police force right? That must be exciting. Getting to run down the bad guys and fight crime." Jessica said with admiration in her voice.

"I've always thought cops were sexy. The way they look in their uniform and everything." Lorelei added.

"I'm actually a detective."

"Oh, so you solve crimes?" Jessica asked, with curious wonder in her question.

"A mind can be sexy too." Rick resisted the urge to roll his eyes and almost jumped up and hugged the waiter when he came by and asked him chicken or beef. He chose the beef to the amusement of the women who thought it only fitting that a manly man such as Rick would chose beef. They both settled on the chicken, telling Rick that the lean meat was great for their diets. When the plates were set down in front of them, Rick asked about any harder liquor than the champagne that was being served. He was told that the champagne was it, unless he wanted water or coffee. He asked for a glass of water, and another glass of champagne. He looked over at Michonne before digging into his food. He wanted to be mad when the women started talking again, laughing at things that he didn't think were funny, but the food was really good and helped him take his mind off of his awful seat. He concentrated on the flavors in his mouth and how many times he chewed his food. He found that doing that, he could hear himself chewing and was able to drown out the voices of Jessica and Lorelei. It was forty five minutes later when he heard the sound of metal clanking against glass. He looked up and saw Michonne stand from her seat, and a waiter hand her a microphone.

"Good evening everyone. I won't keep you long, it looks like they're coming around with the desserts and that's my favorite part." She paused as the crowd laughed. "I want to thank you all for coming out and celebrating this special occasion with this wonderful couple." She looked over at Maggie and Glenn who raised their glasses at her. "When I first met Maggie." She paused again and took a deep breath. "I never imagined that today would be possible. It was just her and me for a long time, and then Glenn came and pushed my ass right out of the way." She turned to him and laughed. "I'm kidding, Glenn is right where he should be, next to Maggie, loving her and bringing out a light in her that not even the worst of the worst can extinguish. So tonight, we toast to you. Five years is a great start, Glenn and Maggie Rhee." She winked at them. "To many, many more."

"Here here!" The crowd exclaimed.

"There's a quote by A.R. Asher that asks, "Why do you put up with me?, the answer states, "Because you're fire … and I've been cold all my life." That sums them up perfectly." She raised her glass again. "To a lifetime of warmth. Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary!" The crowd raised their glasses in unison, cheering the happy couple. Rick watched as both Maggie and Glenn came up and hugged her. He saw Michonne wipe tears from Maggie's cheeks. The bond the two women had was strong, it made him smile being able to witness it.

"That was so sweet. It was really nice of her to do that." Jessica said forking caking into her mouth. Rick watched Michonne sit back down and take a bite of her cake. Watching her lick the frosting off the silverware was worth the annoying sounds the dieting duo were making as they ate theirs beside him. He heard his name being called and looked over at Abe who was giving him a thumbs up, indicating that the "date" with Sasha was going well. He looked over at Michonne again, but she wasn't there. Just when he started to look for her in the crowd, a waiter came up to him handing him a half filled whiskey glass and a note. He opened the note and smiled.

 _Looks like you need a drink. Come see me at the shop sometime._

 _Michonne._


	3. Chapter 3

"So how did you know that I loved lilies?"

"Lucky guess, I suppose." Rick took a sip of his water and then tried to hide his smile as he thought about the torturous amount of time it took him to pick out the perfect bouquet for her. "Not an easy one...I was in that shop for an hour trying to decide which flower would impress you most. Ms. Helen almost kicked me out for being indecisive."

"I've never been given flowers, so you could have picked a dandelion out of the grass and I would have been just as impressed."

"I'll remember that for next time." They both looked up when the waiter approached the table to take their orders. The fancier than most restaurant was busy for a Sunday night, but the cozy laid back atmosphere, helped to drown out the background noise from the other diners. Rick looked over to Michonne so she could order first and then he ordered for himself and included a bottle of wine for the table.

"You're good at picking wines too. Now I'm really impressed."

"Just paying you back for the whiskey. It was much appreciated and extremely good."

"I'm glad you liked it. Sorry I had to leave so suddenly, but big crowds really aren't my thing. I was on E after my speech, and just needed to be my myself for a while."

"That's understandable. It was a great speech by the way. You and Maggie seem really close."

"Yeah, we've been through... a lot." Rick noticed the slightest bit of sadness when she said that, but it was quickly replaced by a smile and bright eyes. "I'm really happy for her and Glenn. They deserve all the happiness that comes to them. So… how are you liking the new town?"

"It's growing on me." His smile indicated that it was Michonne who was making things brighter.

"You moved here just for the job?"

"You could say that... I needed a change, and wasn't getting anywhere where I was, so I applied when the position came up and jumped at the chance to move as soon as I was cleared to do so." He stared at her for longer than he intended to, but once his eyes locked with the depths of her cognac colored eyes, he found it almost impossible to look away, even when the waiter placed the chilled bottle of wine on the table.

"I'm glad things have been working out for you."

"Much better than I expected." Rick poured wine for Michonne and then himself, waiting until she had taken a sip to enjoy his, mesmerized by the way her lips curled around the mouth of the glass.

"I hope you weren't running from something...or someone. An ex wife? Kids?"

"I've never been married and I have no kids. I just needed a change." Their meals arrived at that moment and the conversation stopped while the waiter placed their plates in front of them. He asked if everything looked to their satisfaction and with a smile and nod from both Rick and Michonne he left them to enjoy their food.

"A toast before we eat." Michonne raised her glass. "To new beginnings."

"To new beginnings."

When Michonne received flowers from the delivery man two days ago, she was impressed by the bouquet that was presented to her. She was even more impressed by the note that Rick sent with it saying he would pick her up Sunday for dinner. If it had been any other person with their presumptuous invite, she would have quickly sent the flowers back with a note saying _Nice try_ , but the memory that Rick left on her from the party, had her wanting to get to know him more, and for her, that was rare. So tonight they talked and took bites of their food between the infrequent pauses of the conversation. Rick told her about his life growing up in a small town in Florida and she told him about the better parts of her life as a child. They laughed hard and loud at Rick's story of getting caught out in the rain after sneaking out of the house at 13 years old, and then he nearly brought Michonne to tears when he told her about losing his father's lucky coin. A nickel given to his father on his wedding day by his grandfather. Rick spent hours searching through the dirt looking for it after Walter Fryer threw it on the ground as a way of emphasizing that Rick's money wasn't good enough. He wanted blood for the embarrassment Rick caused him when he accidentally tripped him in the school hallway causing him to slide along the freshly waxed floor, only coming to a stop when he ran into the trash can. So after throwing the nickel in the field behind the neighborhood houses, Rick spent all night on his hands and knees searching for a coin that his father told him had been passed down to the groom for five generations on their wedding day as a blessing for a prosperous marriage. He wiped a tear from Michonne's cheek after his story ended, promising that it had a happy ending. Just as he began to tell her, the waiter interrupted, letting them know that the restaurant was closing, having an earlier closing time since it was Sunday.

"I guess it's time to go." They watched the waiter take away their plates and Rick handed over his credit card taking out a few bills, plus something extra for the tip. "Feel like some coffee?"

"I'd love some."

* * *

"Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Nothing a phone call can't fix." Rick answered. It wasn't that late, but for a Sunday he could see how she would be wondering. "How do you like your coffee?"

"Actually, I prefer tea." Michonne reluctantly confessed, hoping he wasn't too set on coffee after their dinner was cut short.

"I got some of that." Rick pulled out a box of tea from his cabinet, still wrapped in the cellophane from when the neighbor brought him a welcome basket the first day he moved in. His invite for coffee ended up at his home when all the shops in town turned up closed on Sunday night. Michonne watched amused as he tried to find the best way to rip the clear wrapping off the box.

"Sit. I'll do it." She smiled and took the box from him and was handed a kettle moments later, something he had never used and really wasn't sure how to. "Thank you." Rick watched her move around his kitchen effortlessly as if she'd been there numerous times before. She filled the kettle and set it on the stove then looked to Rick who motioned with is head which cabinet held the mugs. "This is a nice place." Her back was turned to him while she placed a teabag in each of the mugs. "Your neighborhood seems nice...quiet."

"It's alright." His eyes went to her collarbones as she leaned against the counter and placed her hands on the quartz top beside her. "I don't lose sleep with noise or anything. The neighbors mostly keep to themselves."

"You didn't want to decorate this place?"

"Are you making a dig at my bachelor pad?"

"Of course not. It's… nice. I guess I'm just used to more covered walls and pretty things. From what I've seen though, it's nice. You'll have to give me the formal tour later."

"I'd love to, even though there's not much to see." The kettle alerted them that the water was ready, and Michonne started to fill the mugs, holding on to the strings so that they didn't fall in. "You put sugar in that, right?" Michonne turned to Rick who was now standing beside her with the sugar bowl in his hand.

"I do." She nodded her head. "How bout you?"

"To be honest, I drink my tea in a glass with ice, so I'm not too sure about the hot stuff." Michonne took the sugar from him and added two spoonfuls to his mug, then stirred it gently. She brought it to her mouth, bringing her lips together to blow some of the hotness away.

"Here, taste this." She placed the mug to his lips and he gingerly sipped it, voicing his approval of the taste with a happy moan.

"That's pretty good. You always drink your tea this way?"

"If it's late, I do." She added sugar to her own mug and they both leaned against the counter sipping their drinks and trying to decide which way to take the conversation.

"You're up late a lot?"

"Sleeping isn't the easiest thing for me to do." She inhaled a deep breath and blew it out, taking a quick sip of her quickly cooling tea. "Luckily I live above my shop, so I can just go downstairs and work in my studio until my eyes can't stay open any longer."

"I've worked on a few cases, that won't allow me to sleep until they're solved. It's probably where some of this grey came from." He scratched his jaw, drawing her attention to the salt and pepper colored hairs of his beard.

"It's a very distinguished look. I'm sure you've earned ever single one of them." She smiled, despite not trying to, but she was glad he was able to bring a bit of lightness to a conversation that was getting a bit heavy.

"You think so?" He walked across the kitchen, over to the sink, placing his mug down, then looked at his reflection in the window, turning his head from side to side. "I think I look like an old man." He could see her reflection over his shoulder in the window, she was rolling her eyes. "Way too old to be out on dates with someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Yes. Young, beautiful, vibrant." He turned around and watched her smile grow.

"I'm not that young, but I'll agree with the beautiful part." She winked at him and set her mug down on the small table between them. "Come on, give me that tour." Rick's small home only took minutes to walk through. A few guest rooms, a very organized guest bath and a study that he used for going over files he brought home from work.

"I try not to work too much when I'm home. Sometimes I can't help it though."

"I'm sure you could if you were motivated enough."

"I suppose I could be."

"You don't have any pictures on your walls." They were walking down the hallway, Michonne looking left and right at the sparsely decorated walls. Three generic paintings hung on the beige colored walls, but not a single frame held an actual person throughout his whole house.

"When I was 18... I went off to college to study law." He stopped walking and leaned against the wall in the hallway. "My mom was over the moon with pride that I was going to make it out of our small town, my dad was just proud. Then three months into the semester, I got a call that the house had burned down. No one would tell me about my parents over the phone. I had to drive the three hours home, by myself wondering. When I pulled up to the house, I knew. All the sad faces of the neighbors. None of them could look me in the eyes. It was ruled an arson. The ME said they most likely died of smoke inhalation, but the fire marshal determined that the point of ignition was at the door of their bedroom."

"They were trapped in there." Michonne whispered, feeling sadness wash over her at the thought of Rick losing his parents.

"Yeah…. They never found who did it, who killed them. It took me a while to get my shit together. I took the rest of the year off and then started again in the fall. I changed my major to criminal justice and joined the force as soon as I could. I wanted to become a detective so I could solve the unsolvable. Let people's families get a good night's sleep knowing the bad guys were caught and behind bars." He noticed Michonne's bowed head and the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "Hey… " His hand caressed her arm. "Remember I told you the coin story had a happy ending?" Michonne nodded her head. "Well, as horrible as their death was, I take comfort in the fact that they died together. My dad always told me it was love at first sight. The second he laid eyes on my mom, he said he never looked away. They were found holding each other in the bed."

"I'm so sorry Rick."

"It's alright." His eyes fell to the floor, as he studied the space between their feet. It had been a long time since he told anyone about losing his family. It had always been so hard to tell people about that night. He had gotten used to condensing things and just saying they died in a fire. Michonne though, with her soothing brown eyes and understanding gaze, she made him want to tell her everything. Any small fact about his life that would keep her standing there close to him. He started to nod his head as his brain wrestled with what he wanted to share next. He saw her feet inch closer to his and then he was enveloped in her warm embrace.

"I'm glad you were able to share that with me." Her arms were around his waist and they tightened around him as he opened his arms and matched her hug with one of his own. She laid her head on his shoulder and they both inhaled, breathing in the changing air around them.

"I think I could share anything with you." Michonne lifted her head to see the sincerity in his eyes. His blue eyes sparkled with promises and genuineness, not even a minuscule shred of doubt could be found. She trusted him beyond reason and jumped head first at that very moment.

"Do you believe in it? In love at first sight?"

"I do now." He answered, then she kissed him and he happily kissed her back, pulling her closer to him, with his hands on the small of her back. She moaned into his mouth when his tongue swiped across her lips. He pulled back a moment to see her face. Her eyes closed and her lips parted. When she finally opened her eyes, she found him smiling at her. She shyly bit her bottom lip, his stare making her feel exposed. She closed her eyes again and felt his hand on her cheek, caressing her cheekbone with his thumb. "I think if you'd let me, I could love you forever."

"I'd let you."

* * *

"The Probate court opens in two hours. We can go get our license and be married before 9am."

"We're being serious right?" Michonne asked Rick as he lightly stroked her belly with his thumb.

"As a heart attack, Michonne. Let's do it."

"Let's do it." She agreed without hesitation. Rick threw the sheet off of them and positioned himself on top of her, peppering her lips with kisses.

"I know this is crazy, but I think I fell in love with you when I watched you blow on my tea last night…. I love you."

"I think you're pretty cool." She bit her lip and smiled, then began to laugh when his fingers found the side of her waist and started to tickle her. "Okay! Okay! I love you too."

"That's better." He kissed her again, this time lingering, taking his time to savor her lips and the way she felt beneath him. He broke the kiss to delight in the sparkle of her brown eyes.

"We're getting married." Michonne squealed

"We are." His body responded to her declaration by pressing into her thigh. She moaned, but came to her senses quickly.

"We don't have time for that. We have to shower and eat….I don't have anything to wear. What am I gonna wear?" She looked around the room, knowing her red satin dress that was somewhere crumpled on the floor was too wrinkled to put back on.

"We'll think of something. I'm sure something has to be opened this early."

"Nowhere, I can buy a wedding dress. I'm not wearing jeans and a tee shirt."

"Just go hop in the shower. I'll make some breakfast, and we'll figure it out." He gave her one more kiss on her lips before inching down her body to kiss the scar on the inside of her left thigh, that she was self conscious about. Then he climbed off of her and helped her out of the bed, with a slap to her ass as she passed him. "Scrambled or over easy?"

"Scrambled please." Michonne got in the shower, hating to wash off his scent from her skin. As her hands glided the soap over her body, she couldn't help but remember how their kiss in the hallway lead to them tumbling into his bed, clothes were tossed and skin was caressed and scratched, sucked and gripped, for hours. They were up all night, as if they had been lovers reunited after five consecutive tours overseas. All her most sensitive areas held a soreness to them that she delighted in and she couldn't wait for more.

"What do you think?" Michonne asked Rick when he opened the bathroom door. His hair was still wet and the red towel wrapped around his waist, made his blue eyes seem to intensify in color.

"Shit... I think I'm about to be a man with no shirts, if you look like that in all of mine."

"You don't think it looks tacky?"

"Nothing you wear could look tacky." He came closer to her, examining the "dress" she had fashioned out of one of his crisp white button down dress shirts she found in his closet. It fell to her mid thighs and showcased her smooth dark skin to perfection. She had to roll up the sleeves to fit her arms and the top buttons were open, showing off her beautiful cleavage that he had spent so much time with the night before. "Cleaver." He said, fingering the silk tie that was tied in a bow around her waist. His hand slipped to her hip and he pulled her against him. "How much time do we have?" He asked with a devilish smile.

"Not enough." She weakly pushed off of him, laughing at his pouty face. "Hurry and get dressed. You have to make an honest woman out of me."

The courthouse was bustling with people, but Rick and Michonne didn't have to wait long to get their marriage licence. They both stared at it, not believing they were going to actually get married and at the same time not believing that they hadn't been together all their lives. When the Justice of the Peace called their name, they both stood and walked hand in hand to stand before him. The ceremony only lasted a few minutes, compared to the lifetime they both promised each other. The have and to hold, for better or for worse, were a given that Michonne heard Rick tell her last night each time he kissed her. Their I do's were sealed with a kiss and then it was over. They both stood in the hallway holding onto the thin piece of paper that told everyone they were married.

"Would you like a picture?" A small framed woman asked them, noticing Michonne's white attire as well as the flowers she held, the ones Rick brought her for their date the night before. Rick nodded and smiled while Michonne straightened his steel grey vest. He stood behind her once she was finished and leaned down to whisper in her ear. The woman preparing to take the photo, almost forgotten as Michonne's skin came into Rick's view, the shirt slipping off her shoulder. He instinctively kissed the exposed skin and Michonne turned her face towards his, closing her eyes and smiling at the feel of his lips on her.

"I'm gonna make you so happy, Michonne. I love you so much." They both looked up at the photographer and smiled as she held up her camera.

"I love you too Rick."


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, could you make that three dozen this time? Yeah, you know I'm good for it Helen. Put it on my tab. Yeah, thank you. Talk to you next week."

"Weekly flower delivery to Michonne?" Sasha asked as she walked through the door of their office.

"You know it."

"Why the extra bouquets?" She was shaking her head and smiling at him. Surprise would be an understatement to what she was when Rick came to work married on a Monday after leaving work single on the previous Friday. He was nothing short of a lovesick man. It could be seen all over his face. Even after all this time, he was still madly in love with Michonne and their life together; which made him work that much harder to solve the cold cases they had and get the bad guys off the streets.

"Today's our anniversary." Rick smoothed his hand down his tie, letting his finger linger on the smooth metal of the tie clip he wore faithfully everyday since Michonne gave it to him as a wedding gift a week after they tied the knot. His joyful smile was contagious. "Three years."

"Already? You know I would ask if it's the anniversary of the first time you met, your first date or your wedding, but all those seemed to have happened at the same time." Sasha joked, but there was no denying the immense love that radiated from both Rick and Michonne. Abe called it destiny.

"Well, why put off what's meant to be."

"You're such a sap. Happy anniversary."

"Thanks Sasha. What you got there?" He motioned to the stack of files that she held in her hand.

"This here, my friend are some files that I've been trying to get into for six months. That Heroit case that they've been hounding us about since we got here. I finally made some headway."

"How'd you do that? It was like the guy was just picked at random and brutalized."

"Low friends in high places."

"I hear those are the best kind to have."

"Plus Glenn taught me a few things about the dark web. There's some shady, shitty people on there. I just printed it out, I haven't even looked at all of it yet."

"Let's take a look then." Sasha spread six manilla folders out on the table and opened one while Rick opened another. They read through all the pages, highlighting and underlining certain pieces of information. They were both quiet in their studying of the info, until Rick spoke up. "Does that say what I think it says?"

"Looks like our Brian was really a Philip. Philip Blake to be precise."

"How did they mix this up?"

"I don't think they did. Looks like he changed his identity. Take a look at this one." Sasha handed him a paper with a photo of Philip Blake. "My low friend had to dig deep to get this information. See here, the fingerprints match and everything."

"Well no wonder the case went cold, they were looking for the wrong person."

"Not the wrong person, just not the right person. Brian Heriot lived a quiet life here in Ashby, but Blake lived a few hours away in Woodbury Hills."

"How'd you make the connection?"

"Just followed the money." She handed him another sheet of paper. "See here, Blake transferred all his assets to Heriot fifteen years ago. I thought it was strange, so I started looking into Philip Blake. I didn't find anything."

"Well, that has red flags all over it."

"Yeah. That's when I went to the dark web." Sasha raised her eyebrows as Rick nodded, understanding what she had to do in order to find out about Blake. "Feel like taking a drive?"

"Field trip? Yeah. Just let me…"

"Call Michonne. I know the drill. Meet you outside, I'll drive." Rick watched Sasha walk out the door before picking up the phone and calling Michonne.

"Beautiful Baubles, how can I help you?"

"You've helped enough with that sexy voice of yours Mrs. Grimes."

"I'm glad I could help. What do I owe the pleasure of this early phone call?"

"Sasha and I have to go check out a lead on a case. I'll be out of the office for a few hours."

"Oh okay. I think I can manage without you for a few hours."

"I'll be back before our dinner." Rick went quiet listening for sounds on Michonne's end. "Why is it so quiet, where's RJ?"

"He's upstairs sleeping. I've had two customers disappointed that they couldn't see him. I think he's going through his six month growth spurt. He tuckered out about thirty minutes ago."

"My little man is growing, huh."

"Yes he is. Big and strong like his daddy." Rick pictured her mischievous smile and inhaled a breath.

"Don't you start. I gotta go. Sasha's waiting on me. Call me if you need me."

"I'll do that detective. I love you."

"Love you too. Kiss RJ for me. I'll see y'all later."

* * *

"Alright, where we headed?" Rick asked strapping on his seat belt.

"Woodland Hills."

"This is where Brian...I mean Philip lived."

"Well it's his last known address. At least the last one I could find."

"Sasha, this guy had five houses to his name in this city. What did he do again?"

"Brian was a land developer, so I guess he could have been in the real estate field as Philip. It's not too far of a stretch."

"So you can just start clearing land and building on it, without anyone asking questions about your credentials?"

"I'm telling you Rick, you can find anyone to do anything for you on the dark web. With the right amount of money, you can become a whole new person with a made up past and everything."

"How long did it take you to find out this information?"

"About four weeks, over 200 hours staring at my computer screen. Why?"

"Just wondering what happened that Woodland Hills didn't find this out. What kind of investigation did they do?"

"You're talking about over 10 years ago, Grimes. A lot's changed in tech since then. If you're not up with the terms and lingo, you'll be left out of the loop. I already knew a lot of the coding stuff, but Glenn taught me so much more. Abe told me that before they transferred all the cases to the county, the detectives in Woodland Hills PD were close to retirement, so I doubt learning how to surf the dark web was on their before I retire to do list."

"The Sheriff told me that this was a pretty high profile case. Mostly because of the gruesomeness of the murder. People were scared that they might be next, since Heriot was such a low profile guy. He went to work and came home. Didn't make any waves."

"Yeah, but we're not investigating Brian today." Sasha smiled, excited that they were that much closer to solving this case.

* * *

"We picked a great day to search through a bunch of rubble. When did this place burn down? It's nothing but dirt out here."

"According to this...damn, 14 years ago." Rick closed the folder and continued moving the dirt around with his boot.

"How are we supposed to find anything. What are we even looking for? I don't know what I was thinking coming out here."

"Yeah, 14 years of the elements is a long time, but you never know." He continued to scan the area, looking for anything that looked out of place. Being among the rubble of the burned down house, even though there were no ashes left or charred smell lingering in the air, it still felt uneasy for Rick being there.

"There's nothing but dirt here. I don't know why they haven't cleared it." Sasha started kicking around clumps of dirt and small rocks that had settled in the rubble of the burned out house. "After all this time, it's gotta be bringing down property values." They both looked up when they heard approaching footsteps.

"Y'all here to finally do something about this eyesore? I been hounding the city council about it since the investigators left. They just keep ignoring me."

"No sir, we're here doing some more investigating. Did you know the man who lived here?" Sasha asked him, looking him over. His grey hair and tanned skin under a floral shirt, said that he liked to spend time outside. He probably was the neighborhood watch.

"Not really. Just saw him a few times in passing. He'd leave real early in the morning sometimes, but I never saw him. He always parked in his garage and left the same way. I hope y'all find out something so we can get this cleaned up." He looked around to all the other houses on the street, all pristine and model like. "There can't be much left to find after all these years and the all the scavengers that we've run off picking through here."

"Did they take things?" Rick asked him, brows knitted in worry that they'd ran into another dead end with no clues left to go on.

"Who knows. They always had bags full of stuff. We couldn't tell if they did or not."

"We'll thank you, Mr…."

"Mr. Russell." He took the card that Rick handed to him that had his name and number on it.

"If you can think of anything else, just give me or my partner Sasha a call at the station."

"Sure thing. Good luck." They watched him walk back into his house, then turned to look at each other, skeptical of the first investigation all those years ago.

"Rick, this is a dead end. It's been years and it's been picked over. There's no way we're gonna find anything here." Sasha walked through the dirt and soot covered "house" making her way to the driveway, the only thing that was still recognizable from the fire. "I don't know why I thought we'd actually find something after all this time. We drove all the way out here, for noth….ouch!"

"Sasha! You alright?" Rick rushed to her, fearful that she was hurt badly. He bent down to check the ankle that she was holding.

"Yeah. I just stepped on something." She flexed her foot, to get the stinging out and see how well her ankle moved, then gingerly placed it back on the ground.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so. He helped her stand up straight and allowed her to use him to lean on as she tested the strength of her ankle. She took a step and picked up her foot immediately. "There's something on the ground." Rick carefully moved around the dirt on the ground with his boot, hitting something hard. He squatted down to get a closer look, brushing away the dirt until he saw what Sasha had stepped on. A metal latch secured with a lock that was attached to a door that came from the floor of what they determined was the garage. Sasha looked at Rick with raised eyebrows, before pulling out the file that showed all the finding from the house 14 years ago. "This report shows there was a car here, Rick. They must have towed it out and never saw this."

"Please tell me we have the authority to break this lock and look down there?"

"All the t's are crossed and all the i's are dotted. There's a pair of bolt cutters in the trunk."

"Watch your step." Rick coughed as the damp smell of the concrete room reached his nose. Slowly they both descended the stairs, using their flashlights to help guide the way. Finally reaching the bottom they looked around at the windowless room. Handmade with concrete blocks, sloppily fastened with mortor that oozed from between the seams.

"Blueprints didn't show a basement for this house."

"I don't think it's to code. It looks like he did it himself. Our basement is like a palace, compared to this. The city has so many rules and regulations for them now. I offered to build Michonne a studio so she can work at home, but I can't get her to go down there for anything. Ours has windows, it's a hell of a lot better than this." They stopped when they reached the ground and looked around the room, the bright lights shone all over the dull grey room.

"Are those chains?" Stepping further into the room, their flashlights zeroed in on heavy metal chains that were attached to the concrete by thick bolts. Looking around the room more, they counted five pairs of chains with metal wrists constraints at the ends. "What the hell was this guy into? Do you think he held people here?"

"By the looks of these chains, I'd say he did." Rick exhaled at the thought of anyone being chained to a wall. They walked around the room more, trying to see all they could in the dark space. The cold concrete floor was bare, except for a few blankets that were stacked in the left corner. There was a tall metal cabinet along the wall, that stood beside an extra large tool chest. "I suspect he did more than just hold people here."

"There's a door over there." Sasha blew out a breath and threw a beam of light to the heavy metal door. "I don't know if I want to look."

"I'll do it. Just start taking pictures. I can't believe this was missed." Rick walked to the door that was adjacent to the chains on the wall and tried the turn the handle. His gloved hands made it a little difficult, it didn't move at first, but then with a harder twist of his wrist, the lock unlatched and he was able to pull the door open. It creaked a low slow sound as it widened, finally revealing the room inside. It only held a circular metal table with thick legs that had been bolted into the floor, and two chairs, neatly pushed under it. Looking closer, he saw two more chains attached to the wall on either side of the table. These were longer than the ones from the other room. "Come look at this when you get done out there." He shouted out to Sasha, seeing the flashes of the camera from the corner of his eye. "You see anything else out there?"

"Nothing…. For it to be a dark, forgotten about basement, that was probably used as a torture chamber, it's actually pretty clean. I don't see any blood pools or splatters, no hairs or smudges. If it wasn't for the chains, I wouldn't bat an eye at this. "

"Maybe he cleaned up after himself?"

"He must have been an expert in cleaning." Sasha walked in flashing the light around the room, highlighting the shiny metal table and the two chairs. "Meeting room?"

"I doubt it. Look at these." He swept his flashlight from one chain to the other, taking a deep breath as a thought crossed his mind. He hoped he was wrong. "These are longer than the ones out there, he probably used them to secure someone to the table." He walked over to the chain on the right and brought it over, it stopped at the heavy metal table leg. He did the same to the other one. "If I stood right here." He stood between the two chains and spread his legs out. "This is the perfect length to chain someone by their ankles and…."

"Bend them over the table…. What kind of sick bastard was this man?"

"Far from any man I've ever known."

They spent the next three hours taking photos and gathering what they could to take back with them. The blankets were bagged and the chains were painstakingly removed from the wall. They planned to send the CSI team down after they left, but wanted to get the big things that they could take with them now to speed up the process.

"Let's get out of here." Sasha dropped the files in a box in the trunk and set the camera down on top of it, before closing it. "Being down there was bad for my spirit. I only want to see it in pictures from now on."

"I know what you mean." Rick agreed. "Whoever he held down there, I hope they survived."

"Damn, Rick. I was just hoping they got out."

"Blake's dead, they did." He looked around the property, one last time and smiled. "Looks like there was something beautiful that survived, even with the fire." He walked over to the lone tree in the front yard and plucked a pink camellia that grew from it. "Michonne will love this."

"You just sent her three dozen flowers, Rick."

"So what's one more?"

* * *

"You're late."

"I know. I'm sorry baby." He slowly sauntered up to Michonne, keeping one hand behind his back and snaking his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. "The can of worms has been opened for this case at work."

"Uh uh." Michonne shook her head slowly, smiling as Rick kissed her lips.

"I know. No talk of work at home." He gave her one more kiss and then stood back to admire her in her dress. "You look beautiful... as always."

"Thank you. Go hop in the shower please."

"Did Maggie already pick up RJ?"

"Yes, twenty minutes ago."

"In that case, you want to join me?"

"No. We'll never get out of here if I do."

"Okay, okay. I got you something." He smiled and pulled out the pink camellia from behind his back, then froze. "What is it?" He watched Michonne's face drop and the terrified look that crept on her face frightened him. "You don't like these flowers?"

"I….no….I'm….I'm allergic. You have to get it out of here." She took two steps back, distancing herself from bloom.

"Yeah, no problem." He was gone in a flash, throwing the wilting flower in the trash bin outside. "I'm so sorry, Michonne. I didn't know." He was going to touch her, try to brush away the worry from her face with his hands, but he drew them back, concerned that his hands still had traces of the flower on them. "I'm gonna go hop in the shower." He pressed his lips to hers, keeping his hands at his sides. "I'll be ready in twenty minutes."

"I'll give you fifteen."

"Still time to join me."

"Go." She pressed on his chest to hurry him along.

"Going." Rick gave Michonne another kiss before saying sweetly. "Happy Anniversary."


	5. Chapter 5

"A bucket list?"

"Yeah, apparently Abe told Sasha that they needed to make one before the wedding. Half of it has to be done before they start having kids." Rick suspected that Abe was trying to distract Sasha from worrying about the Blake case too much. It had been three months since they found the secret basement and they were still waiting on lab results from the stack of blankets and many chains that were down there. The furniture had been tested for DNA, but the early results only revealed a strong bleach was used on the surface. He tried not to think about the case too often and the faceless people that Blake held down there, or the awful things that he did to them, but sometimes it seeped through into his mind. Rick was more than happy that Michonne and RJ were his peace when things got too insane at work. So tonight after a day that had been quite mundane for the both of them; work and then home, with no stops in between. They made a filling dinner together and then gave RJ a bath and put him to bed after he fell asleep on Rick's shoulder, finally giving themselves the opportunity to sit together on the couch and decompress from their day. It was their favorite type of night.

Rick held a yellow legal pad in his lap and tapped a black pen against it. "I guess I can see how that could be fun. Kind of like a premarital team building thing." Rick moved his leg and positioned Michonne to sit between his legs and rest her back on his chest.

"I think we should do one... I mean, we're past the premarital stage, but it might be fun to have a list of things we want to do before we get too old to do them."

"Is there something you've always wanted to do?" Moving her hair over to her left shoulder, she relaxed into him and waited for his answer.

"I've always wanted to do a cross country motorcycle trip. You and me on the open road, wind blowing in our hair. Bugs hitting us at 60 mph in the face." He poked her in the side to show he was kidding about the bugs.

"Do you even know how to drive a motorcycle?"

"I'll learn before we go." He wrote down _motorcycle trip_ on the top line, next to a number one. "Your turn."

"I always wanted to do one of those eating challenges. You know the ones they show on tv?"

"Like the hot dog one?"

"No, like if you eat the 72 oz steak and all the fixings, they'll take your picture and put it on the wall and the meal's free." She raised her hands and used her thumbs and pointer fingers to represent a photo.

"Where the hell do you think you'd put 72 oz of steak?" He ran his hand down her flat tummy.

"That's part of the challenge."

"Okay then." He wrote it down on the second line. "I'll be there with you for support." Hooking his fingers through her belt loops, he kissed her cheek. " And to hold up your pants when your buttons pop off."

"Thank you." She laughed at him, picturing him having to roll her out of a restaurant like that bratty girl in the chocolate factory movie. "What's number 3?"

"Skydiving." He quickly scribbled down the word on the paper.

"No." She quickly retorted.

"Oh come on. It's our bucket list."

"I'm not watching you plunge to your death Rick. I like you too much for that."

"Fine." A thin straight line erased his faux dream. "I wasn't being serious anyways." He thought for a few minutes. "I've never been skinny dipping."

"Yeah, put that down. I'll do that with you. Make sure it's in a rooftop pool."

"Naked, close to the stars. I like that idea." He wrote it down with a smiley face at the end.

"I always wanted to pose nude for a painting."

"So you're saying I have to learn how to paint?"

"Pose for a professional painter."

"And I'm supposed to just sit back while some artsy dude in a red beret stares at my wife's naked body." Michonne took the pen from him and wrote down _pose naked_ on the next empty line.

"This one, we're doing together. Both of us naked in front of some dude in a red beret."

"I'll put an asterisk beside that one." He nibbled her ear while he thought about the next line.

"We should fill up a passport book. Where have you always wanted to go?"

"Montenegro." She whispered after a few moments of thought.

"Really? I figured you'd say some place like Paris or Switzerland."

"Switzerland? Why?" She turned her head to look at him.

"The chocolates." He shrugged as if that was the only plausible answer. "Why Montenegro?"

"It was just a place that I saw on a poster and I would daydream about being there. It helped me escape to a better place. It wasn't all that interesting. Just a picture of a bright sunny day at the beach with the water and sand. I spent a lot of time staring at that poster. I couldn't wait to go there."

"Then we'll go one day. Build sand castles. Snorkel. We can go under water right?"

"Yes."

"Mountain climbing?"

"No."

"Okay, back to the beach. Will you wear a tiny bikini?"

"If you want me to. We'll get you matching trunks." She looked at him wondering why he had his eyes closed. "What are you doing?"

"Picturing you in a tiny red, no yellow, wait.. white. A tiny white bikini. It's really sexy. Your skin is glowing against it. Hmm…"

"You are so silly. Let's write down another one."

"You know I've always wondered what it would feel like to have a bald head." He ran his hand through his hair like he was shaving it all off.

"You want to shave your hair off?"

"Yeah. Why not? I'll save so much time getting ready in the morning."

"I love your hair." Michonne turned to face him and ran her hands through his dark curls with a sigh. "But it'll grow back if you really want to."

"You gonna join me on this one?" He wrapped a few of her locs around his finger.

"No…. I've shaved my head already."

"What… are you serious? When?"

"Years ago." She lowered her hands down and looked at them. "Maggie did it with me."

"Were you sick?" The concern in his voice was evident even without looking at him.

"No. No one was sick."

"So just on a whim, you two decided to shave all your hair off?"

"It wasn't really on a whim, but before we knew it, the clippers were in our hands and we were watching all our hair fall to the floor."

"Show me the pictures."

"There are no pictures."

"You shaved your head and didn't take any pictures?"

"We didn't need any."

"Was it nice? Did you like it?" She shrugged her shoulders and then moved to lean back against him again.

"It served its purpose. Like I said, it grew back and then I grew these." She shook a few locs in her hand. "You have a nice shaped head, I'm sure you would look very handsome with no hair." He kissed her shoulder and let his lips linger on her warm skin. She had gone somber again. Something that she did from time to time whenever she talked about her and Maggie.

"What was that for?" She smiled despite sensing the concern in his eyes.

"I just like to see you smile."

"You always make me smile."

"So after my hair grows back, maybe we can go zip lining?"

"I'm not zip lining, Rick. Let's stay on the ground."

"Where's your sense of adventure?" She laughed and shook her head.

"What about car racing? They have those places where you can race a car on a real race track. Write that down."

"Like a head to head thing? Me against you?"

"Yeah. Think you can handle that?"

"You really want losing to your husband on our bucket list?"

"Put a star next to it and we'll find out who's the loser one day."

"I know how you drive Michonne. Like an 85 year old lady who only drives on Sunday afternoons in the right lane."

"I guess there's only one way to find out. Move it to the top of the list."

"And what happens when I when?"

"If you win...you can have whatever you want."

"That's no good. I had whatever I want last night, and will more than likely have it again tonight."

"Wishful thinking." She huffed.

"When I win, I want to pick out your bikini for our beach trip."

"If I let you pick it, it'll be the smallest one at the store."

"I don't see the problem. We gotta deal?" He asked with a smug smile.

"Deal. You're not gonna win, so I'm not too worried."

"Alright, now what's next on the list?"

"I've always wanted to build something."

"You build jewelry everyday."

"Not jewelry. Something that we can get use out of together. Like a shed. Oh, I know, one of those wooden gliding benches. As a kid, there was a neighbor on our street that had one. She'd sit out there all day and drink lemonade and fuss at us for riding our bikes too fast down the street."

"So we'd just be out on the porch gliding all day. That doesn't sound so bad." Rick shrugged at the thought.

"Watching the grandkids play in the yard, sipping on lemonade."

"Can we change it to tea?" Rick asked.

"Ice cold with lots of sugar."

"Are you good with a table saw? We'll need to get one of those."

"I'm sure I could learn. It doesn't look very hard. We can come up with a design for a family crest and put it on the back of it."

"I had a buddy in college that whittled. He would take his knife and carve these intricate designs in wood and then glue them to people's front doors. It paid his way through school. How are you with knives?"

"Better than most."

"I don't doubt that one bit. We could start with a tree house for RJ."

"You think he'd like that?" Michonne took the pen and wrote down tree house on the next line.

"He'd love it. And as soon as he starts walking, I'm sure he'll go straight for that tree outside waiting for us to build him one. Plus when his sisters and brothers are out there, they'll need a place to play too."

"Sisters and brothers? You trying to tell me something, Rick? Is there a bunch of little Grimes babies you have somewhere on the other side of town?"

"Just the ones we haven't made yet." A few kisses to her temple led to him moving so he could place a few more along her jawline and then a soft lingering kiss to her lips. "It's a big yard out there Michonne. Plenty of room for lots of grandkids made by lots of our children."

"Were you trying to start on those brothers and sisters tonight?"

"We don't have to start tonight." Rick picked her up from the couch and started carrying her to their bedroom. "A little practice never hurt though.

"Practice could be fun."

"Oh, it'll be a lot of fun." When Michonne was finally set down on the ground, she raced Rick to the bed, losing on purpose when she stopped at the last minute and started to take off her clothes. He stopped short and watched her blouse come up and over her head. admiring the pretty smooth brown skin of her back, as she stood there in front of him. He helped her unclasp her bra and touched and kissed her exposed skin. "You're always so warm." His voice was low in her ear, a whisper even though they were alone in their room. It held all the traces of a man who was still blown away at the sight of his wife, after all the time they've been together, she still took his breath away. She turned around and kissed his lips while slipping her pants off, leaving her in just her turquoise cotton panties, cut just the way Rick liked them.

"You're wearing way too many clothes." She somehow managed to say after breaking the kiss.

"Lay down." Was his response and also his request. She knew they were getting to his favorite part, the reason she left her panties on. Scooting to the middle of the bed, she looked up and watched Rick lower himself on top of her. Still fully clothed he kissed his way down her body, stopping for detours with his tongue along the way. When he finally got to his destination, he smiled at the wet spot so clearly visible on her panties as he spread her legs. "My favorite part." He licked the darker colored turquoise spot, tasting the sweet tanginess of his wife. She moaned at his firm slow lick and then exhaled in preparation when she felt his fingers hook into the waistband of her panties and pull them down. "Always so warm." Those were the last words she remembered hearing before Rick filled his mouth with her warmest part and slowly began bringing her to one of many earth shattering orgasms for the night.

She fell asleep with Rick's arm around her waist and his big spoon nestled warmly against her backside. Thoughts of beaches, gliders and race tracks mingled with her dreams of what Rick said about children earlier that night. It wasn't their intention to make a baby, but like he said before, what was wrong with a little practice. They went to sleep satiated and more in love then the day before. For Michonne, visions of babies dancing in her head, made for a tranquil night. The ringing of Rick's phone, jostled her, but she didn't wake up. Reaching for the phone, Rick saw Sasha's face on his screen underneath the 7:45 AM time.

"Hey Rick, sorry to wake you, but we just got the CSI report. They found some hair on the blankets and you'll never believe what was sent over."

"What?"

"A whole box of evidence that was just found in an Ashby storeroom."

"I'll be right there."


	6. Chapter 6

****Trigger warning****

This chapter contains vague mentions of traumatic sexual violence.

* * *

The box that was found at Ashby PD had been in a storeroom mislabeled and collecting dust for years. Sasha waited for Rick to arrive before opening it. Once it was opened, they both took turns taking out photos and the six sealed plastic bags of evidence, placing them carefully on the table and examining each one.

"All this was from the garage after they put the flames out. Here's the car." Sasha pointed to an 8x10 photo of a burned out car, only the steel frame left.

"This looks like some good evidence Sasha, you think we'll find what we're looking for in here?"

"You mean the missing pieces that will help us solve this case? Yes, I do." They both looked over the the evidence more, picking up each bag and holding it closer to their face before placing it back down and moving to the next one. They did that for 14 days; examining the evidence and trying to figure out what it all meant and if it would help their case.

* * *

"Why do you keep staring at that piece of paper?"

"I'm just trying to figure out what it could be." Rick answered, holding the paper, still in the plastic bag, in his hand.

"It's been almost two weeks. Do you really think you're gonna figure out what it means?"

"If I stare at it long enough, I guess I can." Rick turned his head to face Sasha. "Did they find anything from the hairs on the blanket?"

"They should have the results by midday today."

"That should help? What does this look like?" He held out the paper to her.

"No idea." Sasha responded without looking at it. She had studied it so long, that she was tired of looking at it. "It's got a lot of damage to it. Smoke, water. It's pretty singed."

"And this other piece of chain?" Rick asked.

"Looks like a chain." Sasha answered sarcastically, frustrated that she didn't have any new answers for Rick. "Is that a logo on it?" Rick picked up the bag to examine it closely. He squinted his eyes to see if he could make out the pattern on the link of chain, and used his finger to feel the raised parts of the metal.

"Could be, I can't tell through this bag though." They both looked up when the door opened, Kallie from the CSI team came in and handed Sasha a manila folder. Then left without saying a word to either one of them.

"Results from the hair they found." Sasha said quietly while looking through the papers.

"Does this solve our mystery?

"Hmm...yes and no. It belonged to a woman named Libby Steinman."

"Where's she live?" Rick grabbed his keys preparing to go for a drive to interview Libby.

"County cemetery. She died five years ago. Suicide actually. Let me call the family and see if they can tell me more about her death, or life."

"Yeah, alright." He was disappointed, but that came with the job sometimes. He replaced his keys with a couple dollars from his desk. "I'm going to the vending machine. You want anything?"

"Just water. There's cupcakes in the break room. It's someone's birthday apparently. If you see Abe in there, tell him to get away from them. He's got a kilt to fit into." Rick left the office and closed the door behind him to give Sasha some privacy. He walked down the narrow hallway, and found the huge box of cupcakes half empty with Abe not too far away from it.

"Sasha figured you'd be in here. She said to back away from the cupcakes."

"Already giving me orders." Abe shook his head and wiped his hand on his pants hopping Rick hadn't seen the chocolate frosting on his thumb.

"You better listen then, I hear the honeymoon is a lot more fun when you do." He walked to the soda machine and slid his dollar in. "Did y'all figure out where you wanted to go yet?"

"Someplace with a beach, but not too hot. Sasha's skin just absorbs the sun, and makes her glow." Abe went quiet thinking about Sasha's skin all glowing and sun kissed. He started to smile and then Rick cleared his throat in order to get him to focus on what he was saying. "Oh yeah... me on the other hand will end up looking like a lobster. You have any suggestions?"

"Nah. Michonne and I did our bucket list and she wants to go to Montenegro. That one's ours." Rick warned sternly. "Why not Fiji or somewhere in the Caribbean. I hear you're wearing a kilt, Scotland's an option. Just write them all down and pick from a hat."

"I'll run that by Sasha and see what she thinks. What's she up to, still looking over the evidence in that box?" Abe grabbed another cupcake from the box and after removing the paper, had it all in his mouth in two bites.

"No. We might have caught a break, she's following up on it."

"Alright. If she asks, tell her I only had one cupcake."

"How are you so afraid of such a small woman?" Rick joked.

"You know as well as I do, she's only small in stature." Rick walked out of the break room with a can of soda and a bottle of water for Sasha, plus two cupcakes in case she wanted one. When he got back to the office, she was off the phone and typing something on the computer. She didn't look up when he came in, the sound of his boots on the floor, always gave him away.

"So what'd you find out?" He set the cupcake on her desk beside her and handed her the water.

"Well according to to her mother, Libby was a talented artist who came home one day sixteen years ago, after going missing for a week, she was bruised and battered, and wouldn't say a thing to her or the police about what happened or where she'd been. She was in and out of psychiatric care, then one day about two years later she came home cut and bleeding. Her mother said she had cuts all over her hands and legs. She refused to go to the hospital, and insisted that they were just scraps and needed band aids. Her mom cleaned her up and bandaged her. Then she was back under psychiatric care a month later. In and out over the years until her family found her dead five years ago."

"How?"

"Overdose. She had four empty pill bottles next to her body." Sasha turned back to her computer and typed something in.

"What are you doing now?"

"Looking up the hospital that treated her. Maybe I can get some more answers out of them."

"What are you thinking Sasha?"

"I'm thinking that the timing is right for her to be the killer of Blake. It would make sense with her going missing and needing psychiatric care. Who knows the things he did to her, it had to have messed with her mind."

"I'm sure it did."

"The date of her suicide is around the date of when Blake was found murdered." Rick smiled at the possibility of closing this case.

"I'm going to look through the evidence again." Rick took the top off the cardboard box and removed the six bagged items, lining them up on the table one by one. A small section of chain, a faded charred piece of paper, a small silver vase, a book about the history of weapons, a roll of silver duct tape and an eye patch. He left the stack of photos in the box, he hadn't seen anything useful in them when he looked earlier. He could hear Sasha talking to a Dr. Charleston on the phone. There were long moments on silence by her and then a few questions. The whole thing took about twenty minutes and then the call ended.

"So according to Dr. Charleston, Libby exhibited signs of mental trauma when she was admitted the first time. She didn't talk to them either, but she did sketch a lot. He's sending me over what they have in her file. He said it's all electronic now, so I'll have it as soon as he emails it to me. The mother granted access to all law enforcement hoping to get some answers to her death. You seeing anything different in there?"

"Not really. The photos don't show much in the garage, even with the fire, the fire marshal's report showed it was virtually empty except the car and what's in the box."

"Everything he needed was in the basement. The house was just a front."

"I understand the chain because they were in the basement. The book was like the ones in the original report of Heriot, he was into all this stuff. The duct tape, makes sense. He probably used it to secure them for transport."

"The eye patch?" Sasha picked up the bag containing the black leather eye patch. "You think it's a prop?"

"I don't know. The ME report said he was missing an eye. I thought the killer took it out. You think he lost it before the murder?"

"I can check his medical history. What about this?"

"The vase seems out of place when you think of what he had and did in that basement." Rick took a deep breath to try and cleanse his mind of the things Blake put his victims through. "I can't think of what he'd use it for."

"I don't know what this paper is. I can't make out the image." Sasha handed him the bag. "Put it on the board, maybe a new angle will reveal something. Let me see if Libby's file was sent."

The file didn't contain any medical information, just the sketches that she did when she was at the hospital. Sasha projected them on the large monitor and they looked at each one, carefully examining each pen stroke hoping to find something that would lead them closer to the answers they were looking for.

"Her mother's right, she was a talented artist. These are like blueprints of the basement. The chains, the other room, even the stairs. There's the table." Rick said kind of excited that Libby's drawings revealed more about what she saw. Sasha kept scrolling through the pictures, one after another. There were five sketches in a row of the small room, each at a different angle. Some from a standing position and the others lower, as if her head was on the table. Sasha stopped on the next sketch. It was the same room, but this time there was a vase on the table. The next one showed a flower drawn messily in the vase. The next sketches came up and it was three of the same. The phone rang and Sasha went to answer it as the sketches kept popping up. The flower in the vase got clearer and more detailed. The next one was just the flower by itself. Rick sat up in his chair more, trying to get closer. Then the slide changed.

"Is that her leg?" Sasha asked, covering the mouthpiece of the phone.

"Yeah...it looks like it."

"What is that?" Again there were three sketches of the same thing, her leg, Then they got clearer and more detailed. Rick immediately recognized it. He'd seen it just about everyday for over three years. "That was Darlene on the phone, they need me in the evidence room."

"Yeah okay." Rick mumbled, not looking at her, still staring at the monitor that was stuck on the last sketch. It was drawn as a close up and was identical to the scar that Michonne had on the inside of her thigh. He went to the computer and looked through each sketch again. Closer, scrutinizing every straight line and curve of each drawing.

The chains.

The table.

The vase.

The camellia.

The scar.

It was all flooding through his mind and on the screen at the same time. Rick closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to rid his brain of the thoughts that were running through it. When he opened them again, he looked up and the first thing he saw was the piece of paper that they attached to the board. It was clear as day now, looking at it from a different angle. A beach. The sand and the water.

"Montenegro." He whispered, getting up and walking out the door.

* * *

For the past few hours Rick had let the burn from his whiskey remind him that he was alive, that it was all real. He replayed everything that had happened since the beginning. The info Sasha was able to uncover about Blake, the burned down house, the basement, the chains. It all ran through his mind over and over. Each detail. Each piece of information. When he was tired of Blake in his head, he replayed every second of his life with Michonne. From the day they met, their wedding day, the birth of their son. The thrilling to the mundane, like this morning when they kissed at the door. She held RJ and they both waved to him from the porch as he drove off to get to work. He took another sip of his drink and heard the front door open.

"Rick." The door closed and he heard her walk down the hallway. He didn't hear RJ, so he must have been asleep. A few minutes later her footsteps got closer to the door and stopped. Rick knew she saw the lamp light from under the door. He was rarely in that room, so for there to be a light on was unusual. The door creaked open and she stepped in, his face a shadow as he sat in the leather desk chair. "Rick. Is everything alright?" He didn't know how to ease his way into this conversation. There was no easy way or round of way to get the answers he wanted, so he just came and asked.

"Tell me what he did to you."

"What are you talking about?" She smiled through her confusion.

"Brian Heriot. Philip Blake." He saw her face fall with recognition of the names that he just said. He felt his heart drop and he wanted to reach out to her, but the answers weren't in his touch right now. "Tell me what he did to you." He put his drink down and stood up, walking towards her and turning her around so that she could sit in the chair.

"Please don't make me."

"You're gonna have to, Michonne." He took her hands in his. "Tell me." She sat down and he kneeled in front of her. Looking into his eyes, she knew that this was it. She had to tell him.

"We were supposed to leave the next day. A road trip to California, just Maggie and me. She wanted to stay in the hotel and rest, but I talked her into going out for drinks since she turned 21 the week before. We were having a good time, laughing and talking to a few people at the bar. We had a few drinks and... I don't remember how we got there. I just remember waking up and seeing Maggie. I tried to get to her, but I couldn't reach her. One minute we were laughing and having a good time, and then the next, we were waking up chained to the wall in a dingy basement. He came down a few hours later, bragging about how easy it was to slip something in our drinks."

"How long were you down there?"

"A few weeks, maybe." She looked down at their hands and tightened her grip on his.

"No one looked for you?"

"According to him, he was sticking to our plan. Sending postcards from each city with updates. He must of overheard us talking to some of the people at the bar. It was stupid of us to tell anyone, but we were so excited. When her parents and my mom got the postcards, they didn't think anything was wrong. Why would they? They were getting frequent updates of where we were and they made it seem that we were having a good time. There was a whole stack of them when we made it back home. We read all of them. No one knew." She wiped the tears from her face and Rick stroked her hands with his thumbs .

"What...what did he do to you?" It pained him to ask, hating for her to have to relive it, but he had to know.

"You know that flower that I told you I was allergic to?"

"Yeah."

"Where did you get it?"

"From his yard." She nodded her head. A small part of her wanted to believe that he happened upon it at a cute little flower shop, but she knew. She had only seen that pink camillia in one place.

"He would pick them and put them in a vase on the table. It was all we had to look at when he…." She didn't finish, but Rick filled in the blanks.

"The scar on your leg?" He used one hand to trail down her jean covered leg, but still held her hand with the other.

"I guess he wanted to try something new, so he moved the chain up to my thigh and tightened it. I bled for two days before he cleaned and wrapped it."

"And Montenegro?"

"The poster was hanging on the wall. I stared at it and zoned out whenever he would take Maggie in that room. He always left the door open...I could hear everything and see it if I looked. That poster gave me a place to go when I couldn't go anywhere. I would imagine myself running along the water and jumping into the waves."

"How did you get away?"

"Dumb luck." She inhaled and could smell the scent of his whiskey, the top shelf kind that he only drank occasionally and hoped it kept her grounded as she continued with her story. "He finished with me and went straight to sleep before securing me back in the other room properly. I guess he had been drinking, he reeked of cheap alcohol. I got the key and unlocked Maggie and we left. We got outside and just ran until we couldn't anymore. It was dark and cold and we didn't know where we were. Glenn found us that night and he gave us a place to stay and clean up. We were skeptical, but he promised he wasn't going to hurt us. He had really kind eyes. Like yours."

"How did you find him?"

"Dumb luck again, I guess. We saw him loading groceries in his car one day at the store and we followed him to a cute little house in Ashby. It had a beautiful yard and there was a wife and a little girl. He lived his life like he wasn't a disgusting monster. Like he didn't …. do those things to us. We watched him for a month go in and out, all around town. We found out his name was Brian and he traveled a lot for work. Seeing him go on about his life like that, was just too much for the both of us I guess. We found a spot to take him and the night before we shaved our heads and gathered all our supplies."

"How did you take him?"

"The same way he took us. He stopped for food at a little diner and we slipped something in his drink. It was supposed to be quick, but he woke up and started talking. He said my name. He said he missed me. I lost it. I didn't stop until I was tired."

"Where did you take him? Someone must have seen all the blood."

"No, no one saw anything. He taught us everything we needed to know about covering up a crime. We knew how to clean up after ourselves so nothing was left behind. When we were down in that basement, when he wasn't….you know. He was telling us how he was going to get away with it. The right type of cleaners to use, where to get the strongest bleach. The best plastics to transport and cover a body. The gloves to use so you don't leave fingerprints. He said to burn all the evidence. Said that's how he'd gotten away with it for so long."

"Is that why you burned down his house?"

"What house? We didn't burn down any house. We just wanted him."

"The house in Ashby was burned down, but the basement was left intact. Sasha and I found it when we went to check it out. They found part of the Montenegro poster in the ashes."

"I ripped it off the wall before we escaped. We were running so fast, that I didn't even notice it wasn't in my hand until we stopped."

"How did you and Maggie drag his body to the creek?"

"We're stronger than we look...and the plastic helped."

"The report didn't mention any suspicious cars traveling the roads that night. All the ones that were caught on camera, checked out. How did you get him there?"

"We drove him...Glenn is very good at what he does. He would do anything for Maggie."

"He altered the traffic cameras."

"Leave them out of this please."

"Michonne, you and Maggie killed a man and Glenn helped you cover it up."

"Rick, I've told you everything. I'm not sorry for what we did to him. He deserved everything."

"He did."

"I'm not gonna go to jail over him. We were locked up once, I can't survive it again." She ran a finger over the bracelet that was always around her wrist.

"What do the bracelets mean?" She stood up in front of him and looked down at the circles and rectangles etched on the metal.

"Sometimes he'd leave us in that room after he was done and close the door so whoever was on the outside couldn't look in. We had learned Morse code over a summer once when we were younger, when we had nothing else to do. A few taps with the chain on the table leg or the concrete floor and we could tell each other that we were alright. To not worry. And that soon we'd be free. That's what these symbols spell out. FREE. I'm not giving that up?" She moved to walk around him, to get to the door. "I want to hold RJ for a little bit. I understand that this is your job, you have to catch the bad guys, but please let me hold our little boy before I leave."

"You can't leave Michonne."

"I'm not gonna be arrested for this Rick. I have to leave." She placed her hand on the knob and turned it. She heard his voice as she stepped out and she stopped.

"You got away with it."


	7. Chapter 7

"How long?"

"Six months." Rick answered. Michonne looked over at the calendar that hung on the wall and mentally ripped the pages off as each month fell away.

"That's a long time Rick."

"It'll fly by." He hoped his reassurance was getting through to her, but the tinge of sadness in her eyes was telling him otherwise.

"I don't know if I can leave RJ for that long." Michonne looked over at RJ who was happily tasting the stuffed frog that one of her customers had given him a few months ago. She thought about all that had happened in the three months since she told Rick everything about what she and Maggie did to Philip Blake. She felt better that he knew everything, but she was willing to walk away from her boys in order to not spend the rest of her life behind bars. Rick had other plans.

* * *

"You got away with it."

"What?"

"I'm the only one who knows."

"But it's your case. You and Sasha… She doesn't know?"

"I'm the only one who knows Michonne." He repeated the words a little slower, stepping closer to her wanting her to understand just what he was saying.

"But this is your job. You solve the unsolvable cases and put away the bad guys."

"As far as I'm concerned, you and Maggie already did that for me." He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her into him.

"Rick."

"You don't have to go anywhere. The things that connect you to the murder, only I know about. I'm not losing you." Rick took a deep breath and stared deep into her eyes, "I can't lose you."

"What about…"

"You let me deal with the rest." He cut her off, lifting her chin to plant a soft kiss to her lips.

"I can't ask you to risk your career for me. You've worked so hard to get to where you are."

"You don't have to ask me for anything. You and RJ are what matter to me. Blake doesn't get to hurt you anymore. Let me take care of it. Don't worry about anything." He kissed her forehead and held her tight against him, counting the beats of her heart, until he was interrupted by the sound of a crying baby. "Except for the reason RJ's crying." He felt her smile in his arms before she looked up at him and chuckled lightly. They both walked to his room soothe the fussy baby, who stopped crying as soon as his little blue eyes, that matched his father's found the familiar faces of his parents walking towards him. His cries turned to soft whimpers and he stood up in his crib and reached for whoever would get to him first. "Hey little man. What's the matter." Rick asked, picking him up and kissing his cheek. RJ started to tell him what the problem was in the best baby babble that he knew. He was very animated and detailed in his telling, making sure that his parents heard each and every word that he uttered. As he "talked" he played with the hairs of Rick's beard and when he was done with his story, he laid his head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Wow RJ, that was an impressive story you told daddy." RJ smiled at Michonne, still not letting go of the hairs that grew from his daddy's face. "You want to get some food now?"

"Yeah. Let's go get some food." Rick pulled Michonne to him and held her and RJ, savoring the feel of his family in his arms. "This is how it's always gonna be."

Dinner was full of more RJ stories between bites of his food. He kept Michonne and Rick laughing, and they were grateful for the distraction. They did their best to draw out bath time and story time, but after RJ's eyes drooped closed for the last time, succumbing to sleep in Michonne's arms, they laid him in his crib and watched as his chest rose and fell with each breath.

"Leaving him...and you would have been the hardest thing that I've ever done. It probably would have killed me, but a life on the run is not a life I want for my family." Rick watched the turmoil in her eyes and knew that even with his promise, she was still scared and tethering with her decision.

"Come with me." Rick took her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist. Keeping her in front of him, he silently walked them both out of RJ's room and down the hall to their bedroom. When the door was closed he kissed her neck and whispered. "This is how it's always gonna be." He walked to the bathroom leaving Michonne standing there wondering what he was up to. She heard the shower start and saw him walk back in towards her. He said nothing, just held out his hand for her to take. Without hesitation, she placed her hand in his and was led to the bathroom. The steam from the shower had already started to fog the mirrors as it filled the room and surrounded their bodies. Still not saying anything, he started to undress his wife. "Lift your arms." Michonne took a deep breath and closed her eyes as Rick's hands touched the hem of her blouse. Her pants were next and she exhaled as they fell to the floor. Rick let the view of his wife, standing in front of him in only her bra and panties, invade his vision. She was beautiful, and even there in her vulnerable state of undress, she was strikingly strong and powerful, everything he had always seen her as and probably nothing that he deserved. Walking behind her, he kissed her shoulder and unclasped her bra, she stepped out of her panties after he slid them down her legs. She stood there as he started to undress himself behind her. This was a position that they had been in countless times before, but this time was different. Rick had demolished the last of the bricks that she had built up around her regarding Philip Blake. She was there in front of him with every secret she had laid out on the table for him to pick up and examine. He knew the truth and didn't run away and wouldn't allow her to either.

Stepping into the shower is when the tears started. Rick wrapped her in his arms and she laid her head on his chest and sobbed. "This is the last time I want you to cry about this. I got you. I'm gonna take care of everything else." They stood there together under the spray of the shower and it wasn't until the water started to run cold that they got out and Rick led Michonne to their bed. Wrapped in towels and words between them still few, he kissed her lips once and then again, deepening the caress of her lips with the introduction of his tongue, which she easily accepted while gently shifting to lay on the bed. Rick pulled her towel away, as his kisses moved lower over her body. The feel of her trembling belly beneath his hands made him more determined to ease her fears. Circling her belly button with his tongue, he peppered wet kisses further down her body, lingering when he got to her mound, but not stopping. He widened her legs with his shoulders, zeroing in on the scar that until today was just a scar, but now meant so much. The mark of an evil man. Rick kissed it like he'd done so many times before. This time desperately wanting to erase any remaining thought that she might have had about Philip Blake. "I told you that I could love you forever, and I plan to do that." He kissed her scar, removing more of the vileness that the violent act of a chain around her leg had left, "As many forever's as it takes for you to forget what he did to you." Replacing it with his love and unwavering promises of their everlasting life together.

"I told you that I'd let you." Her sigh told him that she trusted him fully to take care of everything. She was his, and he wasn't going anywhere. This was just the beginning.

* * *

"The case is now closed. Looks like you'll be honeymooning with one less thing to worry about." Sasha looked up from the computer screen to see Rick waving a few folders around in his hand.

"I wasn't planning on thinking about anything on my honeymoon except whiskey and what Abe has under his kilt."

"Wow. That's a little more information than I needed to know." He set the folders down on his desk and sat in his chair, angling towards her. "Where did y'all decide to go again?"

"Jura. A quaint little Scottish island where the deer outnumber the locals. We'll be there for two weeks. Sun and fun."

"You expect to see a lot of sun on your honeymoon?"

"I have to give Abe a break sometime. He's a large man and no matter how much he tries, he can't always keep up with me."

"I'm gonna try and forget you said that." Blowing out a breath, he quickly thought about what a real honeymoon with Michonne would have been like. He was sure he would of kept up or died trying.

"What case are you talking about anyways? Which one are we closing?"

"Philip Blake." Rick answered cautiously.

"You want to close it without naming a suspect?"

"Yeah. Our only suspect is dead." I think Libby's family has gone through enough, we don't need to add her being a murderer to the list."

"You're right about that. Finding out she might have murdered a man and the reason why, would devastate them even more."

"Sheriff talked to the higher ups and they agree that it's best we go ahead and close this one. With all the evidence we found in that basement, Libby did us a favor." Rick exhaled knowing the real truth about who killed Blake. "Who knows what I would have done if I ever got my hands on him." As gruesome as Blake's murder was, he was lucky it was Michonne and Maggie that handed him his fate and not him. They might not have ever found the small pieces of his body he would have left him in.

"You can't take these things so personal Rick." She started to close pages on her computer and straighten her desk.

"Sometimes you can't help it." He opened and closed the fist he had made with his right hand and closed his eyes, bringing a vision of Michonne to his mind so he'd stay focused. He changed the subject to keep from bolting from his desk and going to look up where Blake was buried so he could dig him up and crumble his remains with his bare hands. "So you all packed?"

"Almost. I've got a couple things to pick up from the store and then I'm sitting my suitcases by the door so they're ready to go on Sunday." I can't wait to marry Abe, but I'm more excited about inhaling the Jura air."

"You're cutting it kind of close aren't you? I thought women, especially you, didn't like last minute stuff. Don't tell me you're working tomorrow."

"I had planned to take Friday off, get a manicure, but with the case closing, I can come in for a little bit and help you with the paperwork." She looked at him with pleading eyes hoping he wouldn't agree and would let her off the hook.

"Don't worry about it. I can handle the paperwork all by myself. Go do what you need to do."

* * *

"I told you we can take him with us." Rick smiled at Michonne as she looked at RJ.

"He's too little. What if he eats the sand. Do you know what's in sand?"

"We have a host of friends that wouldn't mind keeping him while were in Montenegro for two weeks."

"We do, don't we?" She sighed and looked at him. I'm gonna be huge Rick." Michonne followed his hand as he reached for her belly, placing it flat against her. They found out a few weeks ago that they were expecting another baby. They were over the moon excited, especially Rick who couldn't wait to have a yard full of playing laughing kids that were the perfect blend of him and Michonne.

"You'll be the sexiest thing in a bikini on that beach. Belly and all."

"Bikini?"

"Oh yeah. I won fair and square. You do remember me leaving you in my dust on the track? I've got video if you forgot." His smug look was annoying and sexy at the same time. She couldn't help but laugh.

"It probably won't even fit right. I'll be busting out of it all over." She cupped her breasts to show exactly where she she would be busting out.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, and looking forward to it." He removed her hands and pressed his lips to the space between her breasts that was exposed with her low cut shirt.

"Don't start anything…." She lost her train of thought the moment his tongue replaced his lips. "We can't finish." She gently pushed him away and they both looked over at RJ who was happily playing with his frog.

"It's almost nap time. We'll finish in a little bit." Michonne watched Rick walk over to RJ and get on the floor with him to play. Her happiness was wrapped up in them and the new life that was still growing inside her and all the other ones to come. Her smile grew as Rick's words ran through her mind. "This is how it's always gonna be."

 **Five months later**

"Do we have time to make a stop before we head to the airport?"

"We've got plenty of time. Just tell me where."

"I want to leave these with her." Understanding what she meant as she held the bouquet in her hands, he nodded and continued the pack the car with their luggage.

"We can do that."

"I want her to have these." Michonne said as they pulled up to the cemetery. They got out of the car and walked to find the headstone. They stopped when they saw Libby Steinman etched in a smooth white granite with a butterfly printed on the bottom corner. Rick stayed standing while Michonne knelt down in front of the grave marker. She laid the flowers on the ground and ran her fingers over the name. "I want you to know that I'm sorry about what he did to you. We took care of it and I hope you've found peace on the other side." Bowing her head she said a silent prayer and the stood up with Rick's help.

"You ready?" He asked her, holding his hand to her belly and feeling a few flutters.

"Yeah." Michonne answered covering his hand with hers. They both looked up as a monarch butterfly flew above their heads then between them, slowing down long enough for Michonne to see all the black stripes on its wings, then just as she was reaching for it, it flew away. "I'm ready."

* * *

 **Thank you so much for rolling with me on this one. It was so out of the box for me, but I enjoyed writing it and reading everyone's reviews. Special thanks to The Man for not kicking down my door after a few questionable google searches. Now bring on the FLUFF!**


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